January 7th is National Tempura Day!

Posted on January 7, 2019

Did you know?

Tempura is actually a Portuguese form of cooking. Introduced to Japan in the 1500’s by Jesuit Priests.

Today’s 5 facts about Tempura:

Tempura was considered a local delicacy in Nagasaki, Japan for well over 100 years.

Tokugawa Ieyasu, considered the first Shogun of Japan, reportedly loved tempura.

The word “tempura” comes from the word “tempora”, a Latin word meaning “times.”

Outside Japan there are many nontraditional uses of tempura. Chefs over the world include tempura dishes on their menus, and a wide variety of different batters and ingredients are used, including the nontraditional broccoli, zucchini, sliced sweet potatoes, and asparagus.

No Panko or Breadcrumbs are used in Tempura, as this method of using breadcrumbs is called Furai.

Today’s Food History

1618 Francis Bacon became Lord Chancellor of England.

1827 Sir Sanford Fleming was born. He devised the present system of time zones while working for the Canadian Pacific Railway.

1896 The ‘Fannie Farmer Cookbook’ was published.

1901 Alfred Packer is released from prison. He served 18 years for cannibalism after being stranded in the Rocky Mountains. (Actually he was convicted of murder, since cannibalism was not against the law).

1958 Ant Farms go on sale. Milton Levine had the idea at a July 4th family picnic. I wonder if he had dreams of fencing them in so they would not bother him at picnics?